1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and, more particularly, to automatic call distribution systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art of telecommunications systems to employ automatic call distributors (ACDs). Automatic call distribution systems often contain a multiport switch that is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) and a main memory operating together. Automatic call distributors may be used for selectively interconnecting and routing telephone calls that are placed from external telephonic units via an external switched telephone network, such as an external public switched telephone network (PSTN), and received by the automatic call distribution system.
Automatic call distribution systems are also used to automatically outdial calls from the automatic call distribution system to called parties of the external PSTN. Such calls may be outdialed predictively, with the outdialing automatic call distribution system employing an outdialing algorithm in order to efficiently control the flow of the outdialed calls from the automatic call distributor to the algorithmically selected external telephonic units.
Such outdialing automatic call distribution systems often employ answer detectors to more efficiently and judiciously control the connections of internal telephonic units with external telephonic units. These answer detectors determine first whether an outdialed call has been connected at an external telephonic unit, and subsequently, upon detecting a call connection, determine whether a detected voice is either recorded voice or nonrecorded (i.e., live). If the call is answered by a recorded voice from an answering machine, the system will terminate the call. However, if the call is answered by a live voice (i.e., the xe2x80x9ccalled partyxe2x80x9d), the call is then routed by the automatic call distribution system to an agent at an internal telephonic unit of the automatic call distribution system. Automatic call distribution systems employing answer detectors that differentiate between recorded answers and live voice answers upon the connection of a call at an external telephonic unit and efficiently route the call to agents are known in the art.
Automatic call distribution systems employing outdialing features are designed to efficiently dial external telephonic units, determine that called parties are on the line, and connect the successfully answered calls to agents. One of the goals of such a system is to efficiently connect the maximum number of called parties with agents. However, prior art automatic call distribution systems fail both to maximize the detection of called parties that are on the line and to maximize the number of called parties that are connected to agents because the called parties that pick up their telephone in response to an incoming call placed by the automatic call distribution system may not actually respond to the call with the live voice required for an answer detector to detect the presence of the called party. The prior art fails to consider the fact that some called parties, after picking up the phone but before talking into the phone, may listen to the phone for any signals being sent from the calling party (here, the automatic call distribution system). In prior art systems, in the phase of the call when the answer detector in the automatic call distribution system is attached to the outdialed call and the call is being monitored for a response, a quiet signal can be heard by the called party. The called party, hearing a dead line, may: silently wait for the calling party to respond (such response will not occur in automatic call distribution systems that are designed to monitor the called party for a voice response before determining whether to connect the call to an agent); or, may hang up without speaking, which will terminate the call before the answer detector can detect that the called party is actually on the line. As a result, an agent is denied the opportunity to speak to a called party even though the called party had actually answered the phone. This result diminishes the efficacy of the automatic call distribution system.
There is a need in the art for an automatic call distribution system that increases the probability that a called party will stay on the line in response to a call placed by the automatic call distribution system. There is also a need in the art to increase the probability that the system will eventually be able to detect the presence of the called party and route the call to an agent if the called party answers a call placed by the automatic call distribution system and does not immediately respond with a live voice.
These and other needs in the art are met by providing an automatic call distribution system that includes an introductory signal that is generated by the system and sent towards the called party while an answer detector is monitoring the called party for a response. If the called party hears this generated introductory signal instead of a quiet signal, the called party will be more likely to believe that the call was of human origin and that the calling party did not abandon the call. Therefore, the called party is more likely to stay on the line in response to the call (instead of terminating the call) and to make an oral response, thus allowing the answer detector to detect the presence of the called party and allowing the automatic call distributor to route the call to an agent. The more similar that this introductory signal is to common background noise, the more effective the introductory signal will be in causing the called party to remain on the line and to make an oral response. This invention improves the efficiency of the automatic call distribution system by increasing the numbers of called parties answering their telephones that are both detected by the answer detector and routed to agents at an internal telephonic unit.
In accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the present invention, an automatic call distribution system is provided which comprises an automatic call distributor, an answer detector coupled with the automatic call distributor, and an introductory signal generator coupled with the automatic call distributor which is configured to generate introductory signals to the called party that are concomitant with the operation of the answer detector. The system may also comprise a host computer system, which controls the operation of the automatic call distributor. The automatic call distributor preferably comprises a central processing unit and memory. Preferably, the automatic call distribution system also comprises a dialing system, which is coupled to the automatic call distributor. The introductory signal generator may be a concomitant introductory signal generator. The introductory signal generator may be integrated into the answer detector. Preferably, the introductory signal generator is designed to generate introductory signals that simulate background noise.
In accordance with another form of the present invention, a method for increasing the probability that a caller will stay on the line in response to a call placed by an automatic distribution system is provided. The method comprises the steps of: waiting for a call connection, coupling an answer detector system to the call connection, coupling a generated introductory signal to the call connection, and monitoring for the presence of the called party while concomitantly sending the generated introductory signal towards the called party. The introductory signal may be generated and coupled to the call before it is sent towards the called party. The detector system may be coupled after there is a call connection. The detector system may monitor the called party for an aural response. Preferably, the introductory signal that is sent towards the called party comprises a simulation of common background noise.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawing and the appended claims.